Our History
by Michi
Summary: [CCD] Suoh POV piece, examining the kouhai-sempai relationship between himself, Akira and Nokoru. (Updated, 7.27.04 - COMPLETE)
1. The Third

**"Our History"   
****Chapter 1: The Third**  
  
A CLAMP Campus Detectives fanfic  
  
These characters belong to CLAMP and associated copyright owners. This is a work of fan fiction for fan entertainment purposes only. (In short: please don't sue me.)

* * *

_bokura no rekishi nara  
hon no sukoshi hajimatta bakkari da yo_  
  
If this is our history  
It has only just begun  
  
Boku no Rekishi (Our History)  
CLAMP Campus Detectives Image Song  
  
After a Saturday morning spent on Council duties, Kaichou had decided that he wanted to grab lunch over at Café Terrace. He was in the 4th grade and I was in 3rd at the time. It was just the two of us back then. It had been a little over a year since I had met him and ever since I had told him I would protect him; I was by his side always, just as I had promised.  
  
That morning he was prattling on about something as he normally would while I shook my head and thought of ways to subvert whatever fool idea I knew he was planning now. We were just passing by the botanical gardens when we happened upon an unusual sight near the fountain.  
  
"I wonder what is happening down there?" Kaichou mused to himself as we neared a group of girls gathered around something - or someone – chattering excitedly.  
  
"Please, Akira-kun? We would all like a picture of you!"  
  
As we got closer we could see a wide-eyed, black haired boy looking for all the world like he was trapped by the group of girls he stood in the middle of.  
  
"B-b-but I'm sure there are better things to take pictures of than me!" I could hear him stammer in protest, red-faced with embarrassment and looking frantically for a possible escape route.  
  
"Please? It would make us so happy if you would pose for just one picture. Just one!"  
  
"What a shy person," Kaichou observed, giggling behind his fan.  
  
As though a beacon went off, two of the girls turned around and pointed. "Look, it's Nokoru-sama and Suoh-san!!" they squealed and I groaned inwardly. Whenever Kaichou was involved, there were bound to be hoards of screaming females.  
  
"Good afternoon, ladies," he called out and waved to the group. The group turned, as if one body, and let out an excited squeal.  
  
"Good afternoon, Nokoru-sama and Suoh-san!" they chorused, hearts practically floating in their eyes.  
  
Glancing over at the other boy, I could see him start to smile with relief until one of the girls grabbed him eagerly by the arm. I recognized him then as a student who had transferred into the school approximately one month ago. As division Secretary, it was my job to be informed of new students entering the Elementary school division. Ijyuin Akira-kun.  
  
"What luck!" The girl who had him by the arm squealed. "Nokoru-sama? May we take a picture of you together with Suoh-san and Akira-kun?"  
  
"Suoh and I would be honored." Kaichou bowed graciously. While I never particularly liked these photo opportunities, I had quickly resigned myself to the fact that it was simply a reality of life with Kaichou. "That is," he amended, "as long as you are okay with it." Kaichou looked questioningly to Ijyuin-kun.  
  
"Oh yes, of course!" Ijyuin-kun extracted himself from the girl's iron grip with apologetic smile and bowed. "My name is Ijyuin Akira! I just transferred into class 2-Z a few weeks ago. I'm pleased to meet you."  
  
Kaichou bowed too. "My name is Imonoyama Nokoru and I am in class 4-Z. And this is Takamura Suoh from class 3-Z." I bowed as he introduced me.  
  
Ijyuin-kun's eyes grew wide in surprise and recognition. "Y-y-you two are the student council Chairman and Secretary! I am honored to meet you both," he said, barely controlling a nervous stammer while bowing even lower.  
  
"So, Ijyuin-kun," Kaichou asked. "Would you mind posing with us to honor the ladies' request?"  
  
Ijyuin-kun straightened and looked like a deer caught in headlights for just a moment. But he quickly got his wits about him and nodded. "I'd be happy to," he agreed politely. Smiling brightly, he obediently stood to Kaichou's other side and faced the girls with the two of us.  
  
"Smile, Suoh," Kaichou reminded me. "Think of how happy this makes the ladies." As he said that, I could not help but smile a little, for his sake. Making the ladies happy made him happy after all. The girls let out another collective squeal and then the flashes began. A moment or two later it was all over and we parted ways.  
  
Back in the Student Government room later that afternoon, Kaichou cleared his throat. "Ijyuin Akira," he said thoughtfully. "Suoh, what have you heard about him?"  
  
I told him what I knew, mostly from the files of transfer students into the elementary division. Ijyuin-kun had just transferred to the school a month ago but was already very popular with his classmates. He was the top student, a whiz at math and polished in many other subjects as well. He was to compete in some upcoming martial arts tournaments. Rumor also had it that he was quite the chef and the university division was currently considering asking him to teach some courses.  
  
He sat back, the thoughtful expression still on his face. "I'd like you to find everything you can about Ijyuin-kun," he said.  
  
One of the things I had been taught from a young age was to not question the motives of my charge. Generations upon generations of Takamura have protected a variety of people - politicians, royalty, celebrities and even mobsters. In the Takamura clan, whether or not your person is moral does not matter. You chose them, for better or worse. And subsequently you protect them, no matter what. They entrust their life to you and you trust them wholly. You are loyal to them and them alone. And on your honor, you do not question them.  
  
So I did not question his motives when he asked me to investigate. But the more I found out about Ijyuin-kun, the more I found myself wondering at Kaichou's judgment.  
  
"Well?" Kaichou asked the next day after finishing the day's council duties. "What did you discover?"  
  
"Plenty," I told him and gave him a rundown of my findings. I discovered he had at least one relation on campus - one of the school doctors - who looked to be his paternal uncle. It seemed that Ijyuin-kun had a very unique upbringing, living with two mothers, no siblings and no father figure that lived with them. It was unusual but psychologically Ijyuin-kun seemed to be happy and well-adjusted. He seemed to be a normal boy with extraordinary athletic and intellectual talents with math being his best subject. "So is that all you have on Ijyuin-kun, Suoh?" he asked, his hands folded on his desk, listening to my report with rapt interest.  
  
"No." I took out several pieces of information from the folder I was holding and placed them before him. "There have been a number of thefts on campus from a masked thief that calls himself '20 Faces'," I said, handing him the campus police reports.  
  
"Ah yes, I remember this. A vase was taken from the Elementary School library three weeks ago," Kaichou said, studying the report. "A note had been sent several days before, detailing the crime down to the second. Adorned in a top hat, tuxedo, a cape and even a mask as though he were going to a masked ball. But even our best security could not stop the thief."  
  
"The thief's MO seemed familiar so I did some further investigation. Another thief used the same MO and became somewhat of an internationally- known figure in crime syndicates." I paused and then shook my head. "As well as an international fan club."  
  
"A dashing thief in the night," Kaichou murmured. "'The Man of Many Faces.' One of my brothers was on a crime investigation for the former." He studied the paperwork I had handed him thoughtfully. "I see the police believe this Campus version to be a copy-cat." He smiled again and looked at me. "So tell me, Suoh. What do you think of this report?"  
  
"It is incomplete."  
  
Kaichou looked satisfied and leaned back. "What is the report missing?"  
  
"A name, of course," I replied. "I have found no jurisdictions - foreign or otherwise - that have been able to ever identify the former culprit. The original '20 Faces' never left any clues aside from his notes. Even video surveillance footage could not accurately lead to identifying him. This is quite impressive considering the number of witnesses at most of the crimes."  
  
"And what did you, eldest son of the Takamura Clan, discover?"  
  
I take out another piece of paper from my folder with a photo clipped to the top. "Ijyuin Shigetoshi-san. His current whereabouts are unknown. He disappeared from even the Takamura information network about seven years ago. To the best of our intelligence, he was quite taken with a pair of identical twin sisters, Eiko-san and Biko-san(1). Since his disappearance they have been raising a son together."  
  
"Ijyuin Akira-kun." Kaichou sat back in his chair, satisfied. "Thanks, Suoh."  
  
"Kaichou..." I shook my head as I realized something. "You knew, didn't you?"  
  
"I had my suspicions," he confessed. "There were too many similarities between the '20 Faces' of CLAMP Campus and the one my brother had investigated nearly a decade ago. I dug up his old files on the case a little bit after the incidents started here."  
  
I raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I'll spare you having to ask me, Suoh," he said, studying me for a bit. "I don't know why, but Ijyuin-kun caught my attention."  
  
A million thoughts went through my mind at once. "I see." I handed him the file folder and was halfway to returning to my desk when I felt his hand on my shoulder.  
  
"Hey, are you upset?" he asked, concerned.  
  
I served him. I had chosen him. Takamura obey their daimyou (2) and do not question them. He entrusted his life to me and I am to be forever in his service.  
  
I wanted to say no, I was not upset, but that would not have been the truth and I could never lie to him. But at the same time I could not bring myself to tell him that I was and have to admit to feeling hurt. Whether or not I was hurt should not matter. I am a Takamura. We live to serve the One we chose. And so I kept silent.  
  
"If I asked you to tell me truthfully if you were upset, would you?" he tried again. He knew me so well.  
  
I was silent for a moment longer and then finally I nodded.  
  
Before him, I never felt any kind of interest in anyone. It is not to say that I thought of people in general as insignificant but yet everyone around me was just another person. They existed but I did not exist for them. And then he came and I realized that I had found the one I was destined to protect.  
  
In the same way that I never showed interest in anyone in particular, neither did he. To be sure, he was popular with the ladies, gentlemanly polite and well-known among his classmates, but he never had any friends in particular before me. He never wanted anyone to suffer as a result of being his friend; the fact that he was a constant target for kidnappings was strong deterrent. But since we met, we had found a friend in each other.  
  
To hear him talking now about how he was interested in this Ijyuin-kun confused me. I was not prepared to hear that much less understand how to feel about it. Jealousy? Was that what I was feeling? If jealousy meant feeling slighted and betrayed then yes, I was certainly most jealous.  
  
Kaichou took me by the shoulders and turned me around. "I'm not looking to replace you, Suoh."  
  
I know now that he said that to reassure me but my eight-year-old mind could not fully understand his intentions. "Then why...?" I could not stop myself from asking. "What has you so interested in Ijyuin-kun?"  
  
He studied me for a moment and then shook his head. "I'm not sure. It's just a feeling that I have to go with. Ijyuin-kun interests me in the same way you did. There's just something about him." He paused and I saw the way he was looking at me. "I'm not out to replace you," he said again. "You'll always have a place with me."  
  
"Then what are you thinking?" I asked. "Why pursue Ijyuin-kun like this?"  
  
In answer, he crossed the room to a plaque on the wall that listed the governing officers of the Elementary School Division throughout the years. There were three officers: the Chairman, the Secretary and Treasurer. Two years ago, the name "Nokoru Imonoyama" stood alone. Last year, my name was added to the list.  
  
"No matter how much a person can accomplish by themselves, there is a limit to what can be done alone, Suoh," he went on. "I was not so vain to believe that I would be able to run the Council on my own forever. I just wanted to be absolutely sure that whomever I chose to help me would be the right person for the job. When I met you, I found the perfect person to be my Secretary. And with you, we've been able to run this Council better than I was ever able to do alone." He paused then. "You're athletic. You've ridden a bike before, haven't you?"  
  
The seemingly sudden change in subject caught me off guard and I found myself giving him a quizzical look. "Well, yes, of course."  
  
"Bicycles can be a great mode of transportation," he said. "Two wheels. It's great when the bike is in motion, always being propelled forward. But what happens when there is no longer anything to propel the bicycle forward?"  
  
"It stops."  
  
"And? Can it stand on its own?"  
  
I saw where he was going with this and sighed heavily. "No, it cannot."  
  
"Exactly!" Kaichou said, flipping out his fan with the word "CORRECT!" written upon it. "Now with a tricycle, you have three wheels. Whether it is still or in movement, it can stand independently." He stopped for a moment and realized that he was now looking at the empty Treasurer space. "It is time to add our third," he said, looking back at me. "Don't you think, Suoh?"  
  
Part of me wanted to say no, that we were fine alone, that somehow between the two of us we could balance the duties without need for a third. But the logical part of me argued that we did need a third, someone who could handle the things that I could not do for him.  
  
Kaichou smiled at me then and crossed over to his desk. "One of the young ladies from yesterday slipped this to me," he said, taking a snapshot from his desk drawer and handing it to me. "I thought you may want to take a look at it."  
  
I took the picture from him and studied it. Kaichou stood in the middle, his face smiling, a charming and mischievous glint in his eyes as always. There I was, to his side. I was taller than him, my eyes not nearly as mercurial as his, my smile much more reserved. And then there was Ijyuin- kun, smiling with a huge, honest grin on his face, his eyes wide with an innocence that neither I nor Kaichou possessed.  
  
Even back then, Kaichou was a splendid judge of character. I was always somewhat numb to others; not particularly caring to get to know anyone. As Kaichou once told me, social situations were not my strong point. But in this picture, I began to see what Kaichou had seen in the brief meeting with Ijyuin-kun. Ijyuin-kun had traits that neither he nor I possessed. His innocence, forthrightness, open honesty. It was so strange to see this stranger in the photograph with us, smiling as though we had been friends for years. As though he belonged.  
  
"I like this picture," Kaichou said simply, looking at it beside me. "It seems somehow..."  
  
"Complete," I finish for him before handing the picture over.  
  
Kaichou regarded it for a few more moments. "Suoh," he said quietly, as though asking permission, "how would you feel about asking Ijyuin-kun to join us on the Council? After we've gotten to know him better, of course," he added hastily, which confirmed to me that this had been his motive all along.  
  
I paused. "It's not my decision to make," I replied. "You have to do what you think is best for this Council. You're the Chairman."  
  
"And you're the Secretary," he countered. "My decisions as Chairman do not affect me alone. They affect the Council as a whole, as well as the Elementary Division. And as a member of the Council, a member of the school and my best friend, my decision to add another member to this council does affect you too, Suoh."  
  
I sighed again and thought hard about what he said. I knew what he was getting at. By adding this Ijyuin-kun to the Council, Kaichou really meant that he intended to add him as another one of his friends.  
  
Perhaps that was what bothered me the most at first. That and the disruption to the normal order of things. Kaichou and I had just been able to clear things up and work together as seamlessly as a team. But for whatever reason, he believed that this Ijyuin-kun could add to our machine.  
  
"All right," I said finally. "If you think Ijyuin-kun has something to bring to this Council then I'll accept him."  
  
He paused then and his shining blue eyes regarded me seriously for a moment. I had seen him like this once before, back at the mansion. "He'll be your kouhai, Suoh. Technically he'll mine too but he will be looking to you for direction. Remember that. We'll all be learning from each other. Take a good look at him," he said, putting on hand on my shoulder and gesturing towards the picture with the other. "Can you really accept him as your kouhai for yourself and not simply because you know I want him to join us?"  
  
I took another look at that picture and thought about Kaichou's words. I trusted Kaichou. If he said that he was doing this for my sake as well as his own and the Council's I was sure that he believed that.  
  
The bright eyed Ijyuin-kun continued to smile up at me from the picture. Bright and happy. So unlike me yet so like Kaichou. It was then that I allowed myself to believe it. We did need him in ways neither of us could fully understand. And finally, I gave Kaichou the nod.  
  
Notes:  
  
(1) Eiko & Biko – I fudged a bit here. Akira's mothers were never given  
proper names. The most they were ever given was the name "Mama A" and  
"Mama B" on their coffee cups. Akira always just calls them "Okaasan" or  
"Mom"  
  
(2) daimyou - feudal lord. Back in the days, these were who the  
ninja worked for. Since Suoh is the eldest son of a ninja clan, his  
relationship with Nokoru is probably best quantified since it is to  
Nokoru that his has sworn his eternal fealty.  
  
(3) kouhai - underclassman. In Council position and in grade level,  
Akira is both Suoh and Nokoru's kouhai. Since Suoh has held a position  
longer in the Council than Akira, Akira would look to Suoh for advice.


	2. Graduation

**"Our History"   
Chapter 2: Graduation**  
  
A CLAMP Campus Detectives fanfic  
  
These characters belong to CLAMP and associated copyright owners. This is a work of fan fiction for fan entertainment purposes only. (In short: please don't sue me.)

* * *

_ ashita no koto yoku wakaranai sore demo  
mirai no koto nara wakaru  
jibun no shita koto ga nan na no ka na  
mina sagashiteru tochuu_  
  
Even though I don't know what will happen tomorrow  
I know what the future holds  
Everyone is looking for  
What they want to do with themselves  
  
Bokura no Rekishi (Our History)  
CLAMP Campus Detectives Image Song

* * *

The current guest speaker finishes their speech and there is a pause before yet another speech begins. Graduations have never been my favorite part of the school year but after years on the student council, one gets used to them. Nokoru is sitting in the Director's (1) seat onstage and given the amount of speeches he has had to sit through so far, I am almost surprised that he is still awake. But like myself, he has become a professional at sitting through graduations without yawning and now as Director he actually takes a great deal of pride in them. But even so graduations can be mind numbingly boring especially with speaker after speaker saying the same thing over and over again.  
  
Since I am Board Secretary and not required by standard to be on stage for the speech part of the ceremony itself, I am standing offstage in the wings, directing traffic. And truth be told I am basically thanking the gods that I do not have to be onstage until the diplomas are handed out.  
  
I offer up a silent prayer of thanks approximately ten minutes later as the current speaker finishes their speech and returns to their chair. Finally the next to last speech is about to begin. According to CLAMP Campus tradition, the last speech before the Director's speech and the handing out of diplomas would be that of the top student whose grades and activities best exemplified the academic and social excellence of CLAMP Campus. It was only a year ago that I was onstage, giving the traditional model student graduation speech before the new Director, Nokoru, gave his. And it was only two years ago that Kaichou was giving his own farewell speech to the CLAMP Campus University division.  
  
Finally this year it is Akira's turn. He walks up to the podium with a practiced ease that comes from years of being on Nokoru's Council. He stands there for a moment, taking in his audience, his eyes clear and purposeful. Directly in front of him are more than 200 graduates, 700 continuing University students and nearly a thousand of their closest friends and family. Unlike the speakers before him, he smiles gently yet confidently despite the solemnity of the occasion. (2)  
  
Akira begins to speak, his voice carrying clear and strong in the grand hall. As his speech begins, I find myself thinking back more than a decade ago to the young boy whom Kaichou and I happened upon while walking outside the Elementary Division building. The boy who was cornered by a group of girls, all eager to capture that smile of his on film. This boy stuttered his greetings after discovering who Kaichou and I were. The boy with the innocent eyes and the wide grin who barely paused when Kaichou asked him to pose with us for the girls.  
  
I notice Nokoru sneaking a look over at me, as if to say, "Look at him, Suoh. Look at how far Akira has come!" The pride on his face is unmistakable. I nod back and Nokoru returns to watching Akira.  
  
In so many ways, that boy that Kaichou and I met is no where to be seen today. At the podium today stands a man nearly as tall as I am. He is fearless, confident and well spoken. Even though I know that inside he is still nervous, it does not show. He stands here, addressing a full house of University graduates, students, faculty and friends without a hint of nervousness. He stands tall, proud, his eyes clear and purposeful. His voice carries clear and strong and his words are powerful. Any members of the audience who may have been slipping into a state of slumber with the previous speeches are now rapt with attention.  
  
But yet, the boy we met so long ago is still there, somewhere. While listening to him, I decide that what makes this speech different is the fact that he is earnest. To a degree he may be saying things that have been said by countless other speakers, yet he is the only speaker so far that holds the rapt interest of his fellow graduates and the university students. I slowly begin to realize it is because he is their sempai, someone whom most of the university looks up to as a role model. Over the years he has garnered such a rapport with the other students that he can command the respect and interest of his audience as well as Nokoru can.  
  
As his speech continues I cannot help but listen to the advice that he gives to his fellow graduates and the assembled audience. He speaks of the importance of not only academic achievement but also emotional achievement, pride in oneself and ones' abilities, for love of what one does, wholly and without reservation yet without narcissism or hubris. The advice he doles out is wise and I see several people nodding thoughtfully in agreement.  
  
He then goes on to say that the learning does not stop in the classroom. He begins to talk about kouhai and sempai and all the things that cannot be taught in the classroom. Friendship. Love. Camaraderie. He urges the underclassmen to remember all that their sempai taught them and in turn, for the graduates to remember that it is not only their kouhai that have learned from them but they who have learned from their kouhai.  
  
Akira's sentiment echoes throughout the hall and from where I am behind the curtain I can see much of the graduating class as well as many in the audience in tears as well. Graduates turn in the chairs to look to their kouhai, their kouhai craning their neck to exchange glances with the sempai.  
  
His voice rings out, clear in the hall, with the tears shining in his eyes. To give him his due, he holds them back well. "I have had the honor of being kouhai to both Director Imonoyama and to Board Secretary Takamura throughout most of my years here at CLAMP Campus. It is to these men that I owe a great debt of gratitude and respect for everything that they have taught me of the years.  
  
"Director Imonoyama, in his years as Chairman of the various divisions of CLAMP Campus, as my school sempai and simply as one of my best friends has taught me the importance of kindness, selflessness and resourcefulness. And to the chagrin of Board Secretary Takamura, he taught me the importance of a sense of imagination, freedom and adventure."  
  
I glance back at Nokoru now and it is more than apparent to me that he is only holding onto his composure by a mere thread. Only the most professional part of him is keeping him from getting up and crushing Akira in a huge hug. Much like Akira, Nokoru has never been shy about things like that. He sneaks another look over at me and I offer him a small smile and another nod, suddenly aware of the tears rising in my own eyes.  
  
Part of me wants to turn away, to keep the tears in my eyes from showing. But these are tears of pure pride for Akira as my kouhai. But more importantly, the pride I feel for him right now is so much more than just of sempai to kouhai but rather as one of my best friends, one of my two partners.  
  
As I listen to his speech, I find it more and more difficult to keep my composure. I cannot help but think back so many years ago to the day we met him and the day after, when Nokoru asked me if I could accept him as my kouhai.  
  
"While Director Imonoyama may have been leader to us both, it was to Board Secretary Takamura whom I looked to most over the years for guidance and direction. Board Secretary Takamura, throughout his years as class division Secretary, as school sempai and my other best friend has taught me the importance of loyalty, respect, fealty, responsibility and countless other values over the years. It was to him that I looked to the most as a role model and strove to be worthy of him as his kouhai. I can only hope that I have been as worthy of a kouhai to him for all he has taught me as my sempai."  
  
I find myself thinking about how at first, I was unsure about the stranger who Nokoru wanted to add to our team. It occurs to me now that if I had said no, Nokoru would have listened to me.  
  
If I had said no, the two of us would not be here, attending Akira's graduation. We would not share this best friend, the boy who was so unlike me yet so like him, who has grown into this amazing young man. We would not be here, sharing this pride in our partner, thinking to ourselves about the more than a decade the three of us have been together: learning, working, playing, growing.  
  
It occurs to me how different the years would have been without Akira to innocently cheer Nokoru on with his silly schemes or to help me keep Nokoru from breaking his neck doing something we had told him not to do. I think about all the things that we have been able to accomplish because he was with us this whole time.  
  
But most of all, I think about what a shame it would have been, to not have had the honor of knowing the extraordinary person that Akira was and is.  
  
"Rijichou, Takamura-sempai, though these words cannot begin to express the gratitude, respect, friendship and love I have for you, please accept this as an expression of my most humble thanks for all the years we have had together. You both took a boy who was unsure of himself and his place here on CLAMP Campus and helped him to find it. It is only with your help that I stand here today, addressing this crowd as we all look forward to what our future holds. "  
  
On that note, the speech ends. Akira leaves the podium and as he crosses the stage he stops where Nokoru is just getting up to cross over for his own speech. From where I am, I can see Akira say something as bows, low and solemn. Nokoru says something back, returning the bow and I can see the tears flowing freely down Nokoru's face now.  
  
As Akira spots me in the wings he straightens and turns to face me. I step out of the wings, just enough to be seen by the assembled crowd on stage and the first few rows of the audience.  
  
"Thank you very much." The sobs from the audience are making it almost impossible to hear but I do not need to hear him to know what he is saying to me.  
  
I know he sees my tears as they flow freely down my face as they do his. The entire stage and much of the graduating class can see my tears. But for once, I do not guard against my emotions. Just this once, I want him and the entire world to know, with no doubt, how I feel. "You have made me very proud," I say, bowing low as well.  
  
We stand there a moment, Nokoru and I bowed to Akira and him bowed to us. Faintly I can hear the entire audience sniffling at the sight but all I can see is Akira. Finally he straightens and walks back to his seat. Only after this do Nokoru and I do the same and I resume my post behind the curtain.  
  
It takes several moments for Nokoru to regain his composure once he has reached the podium. Normally his speeches are those that the student body looks most forward to but this year there is no question whose speech will be most remembered.

* * *

"That was quite a speech Akira made," Nokoru is saying to Ohkawa-san as we wait together patiently in an ante room to the side of the stage. Taking into consideration the mob that had gathered after both Nokoru's graduation and my own, we had learned that it was probably safest to retreat to the ante room until the crowds had gone. I had offered to go find Akira in the crush of people but his father had beaten me to it.  
  
So here we are, sitting with the Ijyuin family and their family friends, Ohkawa-san and Nagisa-san. "I don't think there was a dry eye in the house for this graduation," Nokoru continues, glancing at me.  
  
"Wasn't it?" Ohkawa-san beams with pride. "His speech brought me to tears too! What about you Nagisa-chan?"  
  
"I think that speech was very well done," Nagisa-san says in that quiet way of hers. "It's one of the best speeches at a graduation that I have ever heard." Her eyes widen and then she lowers her head in shame. "Of course, Suoh-san and Nokoru-sama, your speeches were also quite impressive..."  
  
"No," I shake my head and smile gently at her. "His speech far super ceded either of ours. Right Rijichou?"  
  
"Suoh's right," Nokoru agrees readily. "I don't think anyone in the history of CLAMP Campus has ever reduced the audience to tears with a graduation speech. Well," he amends with a small chuckle, "maybe they have but those were tears of boredom, I'm sure. And to think Akira didn't even want to do it! Something about how the honor should go to someone more deserving..."  
  
"No one deserved to give that speech more than him," I say stoutly just as the door to the ante room opens and Akira steps in, ushered by his father. Nokoru chuckles at my side. From the looks of it, even the two greatest thieves in the modern world were able to escape unscathed from the throng of Akira's fans.  
  
Akira is looking somewhere between pleased, deeply embarrassed and ruffled as though he had just been cornered.  
  
In fact, I find myself thinking, he looks a lot like he did the moment Nokoru and I first met him.  
  
The room explodes in activity as he is immediately pounced upon - quite literally to Akira's surprise, it seems - by Ohkawa-san, followed by his kimono-clad mothers. Akira lets out a surprised and undignified squeak as a split second later it is obvious that the traditional solemnity of a Japanese graduation is not observed by either Ohkawa-san or his mothers. Meanwhile the elder Ijyuin-san retreats to a relatively safe corner, bemused at the attention his son is receiving.  
  
The other men in the room - myself, Nokoru, Dr. Akechi and a detective friend of Akira's named Kobayashi-san (3) - hang back, watching the display with much amusement. Nagisa-san stands a little bit behind me, giggling softly into the sleeve of her kimono.  
  
"Akira-kun, the tomato," observes Dr. Akechi as Ohkawa-san gives him a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. Akira promptly turns a deep shade of red. As soon as Ohkawa-san releases him, Akira disappears again as his mothers take their turn. "And there he goes again," Dr. Akechi observes with a laugh.  
  
"What powerful women," Nokoru says, clearly impressed. Of course, I think to myself, only Nokoru would truly be impressed by the display. "Have they always been this enthusiastic, Dr. Akechi?"  
  
"Oh they're quite toned down right now, amazing as it is," Dr. Akechi answers.  
  
A few moments later, Akira re-emerges, his hair and tie mussed and generally looking considerably worse for the wear than when he first arrived but pleased nonetheless. Now it is Nokoru's turn to bound across the room - both Akira and I wince, no doubt wondering if Nokoru is going to inadvertently twist his ankle - to congratulate Akira. I follow in a considerably more subdued manner.  
  
"Congratulations, Akira!" Nokoru wraps an arm around Akira's waist as Akira stands a good half head taller than him and Nokoru can no longer put his arm around his shoulders. "You're finally graduated!"  
  
Akira grins in that bright way of his. "I have, haven't I?"  
  
"Well I should hope so, I did stamp that diploma," Nokoru gasps.  
  
Akira glances over at me. "And how long did it take him to finish signing the diplomas before the ceremony, Takamura-sempai?" he jokes with me.  
  
"He finished stamping the last one approximately five minutes before they were due onstage," I report, my arms crossed.  
  
"Suoh...!" Nokoru protests.  
  
"But I made sure he signed yours first," I say with a wink, causing the both of them to laugh.  
  
"But... that's out of alphabetical order!" Akira gasps, pretending to be scandalized. "I can't believe you authorized that!"  
  
"It's a special occasion," I reason with a shrug. "Even I can bend the rules for a special occasion. No, Rijichou, that doesn't mean slacking on your paperwork for the rest of the week," I cut him off before he can even try it, fixing him with a stern look.  
  
"Suoh...!" says Nokoru in a mournful tone before the three of us burst out laughing.

* * *

I stand outside on the balcony at the Ijyuin mansion later that night. The Ijyuin family has been kind enough to invite Nagisa-san, Ohkawa-san, Nokoru and myself to a post-graduation celebratory dinner at their residence. Between the cooking of Dr. Akechi, the elder Ijyuin-san and Akira himself, all of us are stuffed to the brim and can barely move. Nokoru took the opportunity to charm his way out of the paperwork that he knows I have waiting for him at the office.  
  
As always, I gave him a tough time about it about it but secretly I could not help but let him off the hook for just one day. To see that mischievous smile on his face as he realized that I was not going to drag him back to his work was reason enough. As that American saying goes, all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. And despite the grief he and his unfinished piles of paperwork cause me, I have to admit that a dull, well-behaved Nokoru just would not be the same.  
  
Besides, the office will not be so lonely in a week or two when Akira joins us once again, permanently. It had been decided a long time ago, between the three of us, that we will work together as we always have. It will feel good to know that the three of us will be working together as the collective Board of CLAMP Campus.  
  
Far in the distance I can see Tokyo Tower shining in the skyline. The road ahead of us does not bode to be an easy one but I am confident that three of us together can get through whatever is fated for us, as long as we are together. Sooner, rather than later, we will have to face our fate but for today there are more pressing issues at hand....  
  
"So here you are...." I turn around to see Akira standing there, smiling apologetically. "Rijichou wondered where you went so he asked me to go find you."  
  
"Where is he?" I ask out of habit.  
  
He gestures towards the sunroom on the first floor. "Talking with Utako-san and Nagisa-san. And my mothers," he adds with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about all this. I'm sure you must have had plans for him back at the office after the graduation."  
  
I shake my head. "There's work to be done but nothing pressing. I think I can let him slide for at least one day. Besides," I add, "it's a special occasion. It's not every day that you graduate. And it's been fun today celebrating with your family. The food was delicious."  
  
"Did you like dinner? I'm so glad. I'll be sure to tell my father and Dr. Akechi!" He grins, obviously pleased and turns to leave.  
  
"Wait a second," I say a little awkwardly and he turns around, a quizzical look on his face. "I want to talk to you."  
  
He cocks his head to the side in a slightly confused manner. "But shouldn't I tell Rijichou where you are?" he asks.  
  
I shake my head. "He'll know that you've found me."  
  
He seems to consider that for a second before returning to my side. "What is it that you wanted to talk about Takamura-sempai?"  
  
I had been wondering how to start the conversation but I suppose that gives me as good of an opening as any. "About that.... You don't have to call me that anymore."  
  
"Huh?" He looks surprised and more than a little confused. "But why not?"  
  
"Because I'm not your sempai any longer so you don't have to call me that anymore," I say patiently.  
  
"But of course you are!" He protests, looking almost horrified at the prospect. "You always will be! You're older than me and you've been Rijichou's friend longer than I have and you've been Secretary for him longer that I've been Treasurer... and... and... you're taller than me...!"  
  
As he says that, there is a part of me wants to laugh but Akira looks so confused that I think better of it and just shake my head. I pause momentarily to choke down my amusement and try to find the right words to help him see that I have my reasons. "Rijichou and I may have met each other before we met you but that doesn't matter anymore."  
  
He looks at me oddly then. "You know... I have wondered what you thought of me when I first met you," he says quietly, turning away to look back down at the garden. "You were so protective of Kaichou back then. The more I think about it, the more I wondered what could have made you accept me."  
  
I put my arm around his shoulders and I feel him relax slightly. "It was you, actually," I tell him.  
  
"Me?" He gives me a quizzical look. "How could it have possibly been me?"  
  
I nod. Letting him go, I take a something out of my jacket pocket. "Do you know what this is?" I ask, handing him a picture that Nokoru gave to me while we were preparing for the university graduation ceremony earlier this week.  
  
Akira takes it from me and his eyes widen in surprise. "It's a picture from when we were children! Oh god, look at those shorts!" he laughs. "Where in the world did you find this?" he asks me, still laughing.  
  
"Rijichou found it in his desk the other day. I suspect he's been hanging onto it for years now and he gave it to me a few days ago." I gesture at the picture in Akira's hand. "That was taken the very first day we met you."  
  
"Eh?" Akira does not look like he believes me. "Are you sure?" I nod. "But it looks like we've been friends for awhile in this."  
  
"That's what I thought too, when I first saw this a long time ago," I tell him. "You just fit in, just like that." I take the picture from him and hold it up, looking at the Akira in the picture and the Akira in front of me. "You haven't changed," I say before tucking the picture back into my jacket pocket.  
  
"Have you ever stopped to think why Rijichou calls me Suoh and he calls you Akira?" I ask suddenly, unable to think of another way to segue into it. I can tell by the look on his face my question has caught him off guard. He looks somewhere between thoughtful and confused, as though he has wondered but perhaps never allowed himself to think it through. "It's because he thinks of us as equals to each other and to himself. He always has and he always will."  
  
"But...." He bites his lip and I can tell I have hit on a sensitive subject for him. "But I've always thought of him as Kaichou - before he was Rijichou that is - and I've always thought of you as my sempai!" he protests. "And I figured... I thought that maybe you always thought of me as your kouhai ...." His voice trails off and he suddenly looks extremely unsure of himself.  
  
I study him and consider my next words carefully. He has always been sensitive, sometimes overly so. On more than one occasion Nokoru noted that as wide-eyed and innocent as he seemed, Akira had demons that haunted him. It was a part of him I could never understand but that Nokoru could.  
  
"Of course I did at one time," I admit, "but things change."  
  
A movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. Instinctively the two of us turn around to see Nokoru's blond head walking on the grounds of the Ijyuin mansion with one of Akira's mothers on each arm, allowing himself to be led on what seems to be an enthusiastic tour of the grounds. Looking back he spots us and flashes a smile back at us before being tugged on excitedly by one of Akira's mothers.  
  
"Should we go save him?" Akira laughs, nodding at the sight.  
  
I watch him for a second, making idle chit chat with Akira's enthusiastic mothers and shake my head. "I have the feeling he'll be just fine on his own for a bit," I say dryly and we both laugh. I look back at Akira now as he watches over Nokoru and I find myself thinking back to all we had been through together both protecting Nokoru and just being best friends with each other. "Do you remember that you told me once that you hoped that we would always be together protecting him?" I ask him.  
  
"Of course I do." He nods and looks back at Nokoru as he talks animatedly with his mothers. "I think about it all the time..." he says, mostly to himself.  
  
"How many years ago did you say that?" I ask and he turns his attention to me now. "Look at us. We're still together, working together, protecting him."  
  
There is a faraway look in his eyes now and I give him a questioning look of my own. "I have wondered..." he says slowly in a tone that suggests to me that this is a question that he has thought about a lot. "... about whether or not I offended you by saying that."  
  
It is my turn to blink. "Offended me?" I repeat, confused.  
  
"Rijichou is your daimyou; not mine." He gives me a pained, apologetic smile. "You're the head of the Takamura clan. It's in your blood to protect someone. My family legacy on the other hand..." He sighs, his eyes distant and finally just shakes his head. "It wasn't until I really understood who you were that I realized what it meant for me to say what I did back then. And then it made me worry that maybe I was encroaching on your duty and that you may resent me for it...."  
  
For a moment, I am floored at the thought that he could have ever thought I resented him. I cannot help but feel deep regret at the sorrow that must have caused him, to think that he believed that I may have ever resented him when all he ever did was look up to me. "Listen to me," I say, taking him by the shoulders and force him to look me in the eye. "I could never resent you; for that or for anything else."  
  
I pause and take a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to say what I think needs to be said. I have never been good at things like this. But even as I do so I am even more at a loss for words. There is just so much that I want to say. I want to tell him everything that's been on my mind all these years, things I have held back because I was too timid with my own emotions, unsure of how to bring them across and so instead, I hid them. I had become so used to him speaking for me, even though he might not have known he was. All the enthusiasm, cheerfulness and optimism that I could not allow myself to express, he did for me by just being himself. I needed him to express it for me just as much as Nokoru needed to see it.  
  
I want to tell him about all that he has taught me so much over the years, without even trying: the importance of innocence, optimism, humility and laughter. I want to tell him how much admired his ability to stay so innocent and optimistic over the years after I had long since lost the ability to do so myself, if I ever had the ability at all. Physically, intellectually, mentally, he both makes up for my deficiencies and helps me strengthen myself, better myself for Nokoru's sake, his sake and my own.  
  
But I realize right now that there are no good words for me to tell him that. Because as much as he has depended on me to lead him over the years I have depended on him too, perhaps even more so than he would ever realize. It is his smile that keeps me from breaking under the pressure of responsibility that I bring upon myself to shoulder; his laugh and sense of innocent optimism that keeps me sane in even the most dire of situations.  
  
I guess what I really want to tell him right now is that though he may have technically been my kouhai over the years that he has taught me so much without even trying. But I cannot tell him that right now. As much as he has depended on me to speak up for him at times, I have depended on him to do the same with my emotions.  
  
Slowly I see the uncertainty in his eyes ease and I realize it is because I am smiling at him. All at once the words come to me and I realize what I need to do. "You're the only one in this world that can possibly understand what it's like to promise to protect him. I'm glad that Rijichou became interested in you and that you joined us. And I'm happy that you're still with us, that here you're with me and I am not in this alone," I tell him, gripping his shoulder. "You are my equal not my subordinate. You may not have realized it but you always have been and you always will be. Remember that, Akira."  
  
His grey eyes widen in surprise as he realizes that I intend to start calling him by his first name from now on. After all, he is my equal and I have been thinking of him as such for a long time so it is only fitting that I start to call him by his name as he deserves. For a second I see a moment of bewilderment and insecurity in his eyes. I know he is fighting those inner demons of his again, the same ones that have kept him from believing in himself.  
  
But I believe in him. Nokoru believes in him. And I see that he realizes that now and is beginning to believe in himself. The last of the cloud of self-doubt fades away forever and replaces itself with the clear, confident determination that both Nokoru and I have known has always been there.  
  
And finally I feel that I can relax now that I have fulfilled my last duty as his sempai, satisfied that he finally considers himself to be the equal that both Nokoru and I have known him to be.  
  
"I will," he says solemnly before his face and eyes break into that happy, innocent smile that the years have not been able to dim. The light, boyish smile that I have come to depend on for the times I would not smile for myself lights his face as he puts his hand on the hand that grips his opposite shoulder. "Suoh."  
  
**E N D**

* * *

_Notes_  
  
(1) Director - In the official translations, Tokyopop translated  
both _kaichou_ and _rijichou_ as Chairman/Chairlady/Chairperson which can cause  
confusion as to what position is which. Board Chairman or Director are  
both an acceptable translation of _rijichou. _For this story I prefer  
Director since it's not lengthy of a title as "Board Chairman" and it  
is fitting given Nokoru's personality.  
  
(2) Graduations in Japan are solemn and generally take place in late  
March since the school year in Japan begins in April. (This is why you  
see many anime that involve either school ending/beginning with cherry  
blossoms because late March, early April is cherry blossom season.)  
They generally include a bunch of speeches and almost militaristic  
precision in the lineups. The entire school attends in uniform - or in  
the case of University, formal dress - and sits through the entire  
thing, speeches and all, with no applause. And apparently crying is  
common.  
  
(3) The elder Ijyuin-san (aka Santa-san), Dr. Akechi and Ryusuke  
Kobayashi are all characters from Akira's story, Man of Many Faces.   
I figure that Akira would be the type to make sure all  
the important people in his life attend his graduation. And I know  
that his father never revealed himself in canon but I figure it's been  
over 20 years; he's got to come back into Akira's life and reveal who  
he is at some point. 


End file.
